Summit Global Investments Acquires 588 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,279 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $824.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $3.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $876.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,102,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,977,805. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $849.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $785.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $388.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.29, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $530.56 and a 12 month high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.